The Story of Daichi Jinneko: The Beginning
by raptormaddox
Summary: You've heard the story of how Izuku Midoriya got into the hero course at U.A., now you can hear the story of how Daichi Jinneko, the mountain lion hero, became a hero! This fanfiction contains OC (obviously), blood, references to rape, and blood. My Hero Academia belongs to Kohei Horikoshi and Viz Media. Enjoy! Plus Ultra!
1. Chapter 1

U.A. High School was abuzz with excitement as usual. The sparrows were chirping their melodies. The wind was starting to pick up speed, spreading the scent of wildflowers and cherry blossoms throughout the area. Class 1-B was outside, practicing on their quirks. Everyone was running around, rolling in the dirt, and laughing. There was not a single frown in sight.

Back inside the building, a boy was staring out the window, watching Class 1-B enjoy the afternoon. But this boy was different from most of his classmates, he looked just like a cougar. Small, rounded ears, tawny yellow fur, a small tuft of russet-red hair, greenish-yellow cat eyes, long whiskers, chubby hands that looked like paws, and even a tail with a black tip. He continued to watch the students with his snout in his paw, imagining himself down there.

"Mr. Jinneko," a voice pulled him out of his daydreaming. Daichi snapped his head back to the board where his teacher looked back at him, annoyed.

"Would you like to answer the question?"

"Oh, right, 36."

"Correct."

As the teacher continued with the lecture, Daichi sunk into his textbook, red with embarrassment. He could hear a few of his classmates snicker at him, furthering his humiliation.

After class ended, Daichi ran up to his classmate, Hitoshi Shinso.

"Hey, Shinso, that class took forever, huh? I was totally spacing out."

"Why were you watching the hero class?" Hitoshi asked.

Daichi clamped his mouth shut at the question. He felt his claws pop out of his fuzzy fingers. "I just found what they were doing interesting," he said, rubbing at the fur on his neck.

"Why don't you just try for the hero course? I'm going to, you could join me."

"But I don't know if I want to become a hero, there are other jobs out there. Besides, I'm just a pussycat."

"Well while you keep thinking of excuses, I'm going to get started on training." Hitoshi started running off towards the courtyard, while Daichi walked towards the cafeteria.

* * *

When school ended, Daichi began his walk home. He shoved himself into the cramped subway train, his whiskers being squished by the other passengers. The cougar followed the crowd out of the train when he reached his destination. As he walked through the crowded streets, he looked around at the neon signs on the towering skyscrapers. One of them was playing the news, showing another villain had been defeated by a pro hero. He watched the hero stand triumphant over the villain sprawled out on the ground.

He felt something hard bump into him from behind. He turned around and saw a large man with bull horns. "Hey, watch where you're going!" the man yelled as he kept walking, staring daggers at the young feline. As he walked away, a low growl bellowed in his throat. But instead of chasing after him, he just sighed and continued to walk home.

Eventually, he reached his door. It was a moderate-sized house with a rectangular shape like all the other houses in his neighborhood. "I'm home," he called out as he opened and closed the door. He walked into the living room where his mom, Haruko, was sitting on the couch watching T.V., and his dad, Katsuo, was preparing the ingredients for dinner. His mom turned around and said, "Hi, honey, how was school?"

"You know, the usual," Daichi answered.

"Well, get out of that uniform and wash your hands, you can help me make dinner," Katsuo said.

As soon as Daichi was in some more comfortable clothing and washed his hands, he helped cut some vegetables. Daichi inherited his quirk from his father, who resembled a large black panther. The two of them prepared the food in sync, from cutting the vegetables to soften the noodles. Daichi soaked the noodles in soy sauce, enjoying the scent. As he was taking a big whiff, Katsuo patted his son on the head. He looked up to see his father smiling so fondly, he couldn't help but smile a little as well.

"Dinner's ready," Katsuo announced.

Haruko got off the couch to set the table. The family sat down to enjoy some soba noodles for dinner. They ate silently, enjoying their delicious meal. But to Daichi, the meal was no better than the last one, and the one before that.

* * *

After dinner, Daichi retreated to his room. There were the expected items such as a bed, desk, and bookshelf, but there was also a fish tank filled with tropical fish and pro hero action figures along with small dragon statues. He sat at his desk typing into his laptop.

**It's been a week since I joined U.A. Not much happens in my class compared to the other ones, but I guess it's fine. Sometimes, monotony is a good thing, makes things more predictable. But it doesn't feel right. Every day I feel a heavy weight on my chest like my heart is turned to stone and is only held in place by my veins. I feel so unhappy, but why? I'm in one of the best schools in the country, my parents are proud of me, I'm getting good grades, so why aren't I happy? What am I missing in my life?**

**I want my happiness back.**

Haruko walked into her son's room. "Alright, Daichi, it's getting late, you better go to bed soon," she told him. Daichi closed up his laptop and climbed into bed. As she was about to close the door, Daichi stopped his mother. "Mom, wait. Do you ever get tired of every day being the same?" Haruko stood there between Daichi's room and the hallway trying to think of an answer. "Hon, I'll tell you what my mom told me; we all have our place in the universe. Some people were meant to protect others, while others are meant to live in the safety of those people. That's just the way things are." And with that, Haruko closed the door, engulfing the room in darkness.

Daichi just laid there in the darkness, staring at the ceiling. Hours went by and the night grew darker. While everyone slept soundly, Daichi sat on his bed, reading a manga. He had just gotten to the point where the hero had just ripped out the demon's tongue when he saw the numbers on his alarm clock glowing at 10 o'clock.

Daichi placed the book down, unlocked the window, and climbed up the rain gutter. He walked to the edge of his roof, looking out at the numerous other buildings crammed together. He just stared out at the neighborhood lit up by streetlights and the stars. He crouched down and tensed up the muscles in his legs. He raised his haunches, hunched up his shoulders, and flexed out his claws. His muscles sprung into action, sending him several feet into the air. Daichi landed on the neighbor's building, claws raking over the roof and leaving claw marks. He just kept jumping from building to building. He ran so fast, his limbs were a blur. As he ran farther from home, the buildings' sizes varied more, becoming taller or shorter than the previous one. Daichi even jumped over buildings, throwing him higher into the air. Some buildings had more traditional roofs, forcing Daichi to perform a tightrope act over them. He ran so fast, he was only on a roof for a second, then he was leaping on to the next one, leaving almost no trace apart from some stray scratches.

Eventually, he stopped at a large company building. He collapsed on the roof, looking out at the big, colorful city. The people walking through the streets looked like ants. Even though it was night, the city was still alive with light and noise. It was as if the stars had fallen to the Earth. Daichi laid there with his head dangling over the edge, his lungs heaving for air. Despite him panting like a dehydrated dog trapped in a hot car, he had a huge smile on his face.

"Who needs drugs when you can run around on buildings in the middle of the night?" Daichi said. _Who am I talking to?_ he thought. "Myself I guess," he said to himself. He dangled his right arm over the building to take a look at his watch, which said 12:01 A.M. "I better get home before they notice I'm gone," Daichi said as he got back on his feet.

When he reached his home, he got back in the same way he got out. He slunk back through the window then climbed under the cover of his bed. Exhausted from the run, it didn't take long for him to fall asleep. As he slumbered, he dreamt about the next night he could run.

**Well, there we go, the first chapter of my first story on this website. I hope you enjoyed it because there's more where that came from. By the way, if you can guess what manga Daichi was reading, you get a free cookie!**


	2. Chapter 2

**WARNING: There will be mentions of rape in this chapter. It is not very graphic, but it is still there. If this triggers you, I suggest skipping paragraphs 10 and 12 or the chapter altogether if it makes you uncomfortable. If you still want to read this chapter, enjoy. **

Morning came slowly but surely. Daichi's clock eventually went off, resounding a grating beeping sound. Daichi slammed his paw over the button, finally stopping that incessant beeping. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He went through his daily morning routine, brushed his teeth, took a shower, got dressed in his school uniform, and then ate breakfast. He grabbed his wallet to get some money for the subway only to find that it was empty.

"Ugh, mom went through my wallet again." He tossed his wallet back onto the desk and crouched down to the bottom of his bookshelf. Pulling out a few books revealed a wad of yen in the back. He grabbed a few and left for the station.

He got in the cramped subway train, went to class, took notes, ate lunch, took more notes, got back into the cramped subway train, then walked back home. He just walked along and through the droves of other people. He had not gone on his run yet, but he barely had the energy to keep walking. _I just want to curl up on the sidewalk and forget the day ever happened. It's not like forgetting the day would make a difference, every day is the same, and it will always be the same until the day I die._ _Why do I even bother thinking about my future? It doesn't matter what job I get, I'll always be going through the same exact motions. Nothing I do will ever make a difference to me or anyone else._

He brought himself back from his depressing thoughts to continue walking.

"It's just the way things are." He repeated this phrase under his breath like a mantra.

Suddenly, a scream. His black-tipped ears flicked in the opposite direction of the rest of his body. He looked behind him, but he saw no one in danger. He continued to walk but he heard the voice again, this time, with words. "Help me!" the voice pleaded.

_Keep walking._ Daichi stopped in his tracks. _Just keep walking._ Daichi turned around. _Turn back around and walk home._ Daichi ran towards the scream. His ears led him down a dark alleyway. The spaces between the buildings twisted and turned like a snake's body. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness as he continued to run. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a group of people. He hid behind some trash cans, sticking his head out from behind the corner. There were three guys wearing ski masks covering their faces. There was also a woman, her back against a brick wall and she was clinging onto her purse. One of the men, who looked like a viper with arms and legs, had his hand around the woman's mouth.

"See, keeping your mouth shut isn't that hard now is it?" the viper said menacingly.

His raspy voice sent a chill down Daichi's spine. He could feel his claws scraping against the concrete.

The woman pulled out her wallet from the bag and held it out for her captors with her hands still trembling.

"Oh, we don't want your money." the viper said as his tail started wrapping around the woman's waist. The scaly appendage made its way into her pants, pulling them down. The two other men got closer to the woman and started grabbing any piece of clothing they could get their hands on.

The hairs on Daichi's neck stood on end as he watched these men harass this defenseless woman. _Where are the pro heroes? Why is nobody stopping this?!_ He thought. _Someone has to come soon, someone has to at least do something._ He saw a piece of 2x4 wood. Before he knew what was happening he grabbed it.

Tears started leaking out of the woman's terrified eyes. The viper ran his forked tongue over her cheek, licking the tears. "I'm going to enjoy every second of this," the viper said, smiling like a demon. Just as the third guy was pulling off her shoes, a blunt object hit him in the back of the head. He immediately fell to the ground unconscious. The two other guys turned around at the sound of their buddy hitting the ground to see Daichi standing there with a piece of wood in his hands. Daichi's heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest.

The viper stood up with his tail still wrapped around the woman. "Well, what do we have here, another hero in training?" He looked back at the second guy. "Take care of it."

The second goon walked over to Daichi, cracking his knuckles. Now that he was closer, Daichi could see how big this guy was compared to him. He whacked him over the head with the 2x4 but it only broke in half. The thug stared back at him with an evil grin. Daichi was pretty surprised that the attack did not do any damage, but he quickly recovered. He climbed up onto his back. The thug tried to shake him off, but Daichi dug his claws into him, his skin felt like leather. Daichi raked his claws over the goon's eyes, practically blinding him. The thick-skinned bruiser cried out in pain and fumbled around with Daichi still on top of him like a tick. As he blindly attacked, the viper was forced to jump out of the way of his friend's punch. The goon ran headfirst into the brick wall, successfully knocking him out.

Daichi jumped off just in time to avoid the wall. The viper looked back at Daichi with anger in his eyes. He ran over to him with his mouth wide open, revealing a pair of fangs. Daichi quickly grabbed a piece of broken wood and jammed it into the snake's jaws. With the object in his mouth, the viper could not close it to deliver a devastating bite. While the serpent attempted to pull the wood out of his mouth, Daichi ran over to the woman still cowering against the wall. He grabbed her arm, pulled her back up on her feet, and started running. The two of them did not stop running until they escaped the alleyway. Once they were out in the open, they both fell to their knees. A crowd soon formed around them.

"Someone, call the police!" someone in the crowd yelled.

As Daichi tried to catch his breath, he heard something coming from behind them. He turned around to see the viper running up to them, his eyes dead set on the woman. While she was still recovering, he lunged at her.

"Lady, get down!" Daichi ordered. The woman looked at him confused until she saw the snake coming too. She ducked in time to avoid the viper's attack. Daichi pounced on him, sending the two of them rolling on the ground. Daichi wrapped himself around his enemy's body, binding his legs and arms. He squeezed his elbow around the man's elongated neck. "I won't let you lay a finger on her!" he yelled out. The snake could see the blackness caving in as breathing became harder. In the last effort to defeat the cat, he used his tail to pull out a knife. He repeatedly stabbed him in the side, refusing to stop. Daichi shrieked as he felt the knife puncturing his flesh multiple times but he did not loosen his grip. Eventually, the viper lost consciousness from lack of oxygen. He dropped the bloody knife in a pool of blood forming on the sidewalk.

Daichi pushed him off as soon as he was positive the reptile was no longer a threat. Daichi placed his hand on the stab wounds, wincing in pain. He tried to walk back over to the woman, but he collapsed midway as the pain became too much to endure. As he slowly lost consciousness, he felt the woman's hand caress his face, her acrylic nails stroking his fur. He fell asleep to that feeling.

* * *

The light was breaking through the darkness of his vision. It was so blinding that Dachi had to put his arm over his face to block it out. He took in his surroundings, he was in a white room with a window, fresh flowers in a vase on a shelf, and he was on a bed. He was also not wearing his school clothes anymore, he was in a gown. He slowly lifted himself, still in a groggy state. He placed a hand on his wound but found that it had already been bandaged up.

"Ugh, man, how did I get here?" he said to no one in particular.

"That's what we'd like to know," an unknown voice said.

Daichi turned around to see a police officer and his parents standing by the door. Haruko ran over and hugged her son.

"Oh, sweetie, I am so glad you're okay," Haruko said as she squeezed Daichi. "Honey, why would you do something so reckless?"

"I don't know, it's like my brain went on auto-pilot. All I could think about was saving that woman-" everything from last night started flooding back, "wait a minute, where is that lady, is she okay?" Daichi started getting out of bed, but he was stopped by his father.

"Easy, cougar, you still need to rest." Katsuo helped his son get back under the covers.

"She's being questioned right now, and so are you," the police officer took a seat on the vacant chair next to the bed. "Tell me everything that happened."

The next few hours were spent interrogating Daichi. From what he could tell, the three creeps had been arrested and the lady was being treated for minor injuries. When the interrogation finally ended, he delivered his verdict.

"Normally, you're not allowed to use your Quirk in public, but since you used it to stop three rapists, I'll just let you off with a warning." He got up from his chair. "You have a good day."

Before he left, he said, "Oh, and next time you want to use your Quirk, wait until you get your Hero license."

"Oh, I'm not in the class that lets you get that."

"Really? You should think about becoming a hero then, you've got a knack for saving people."

As the police officer left the room, another person entered. It was the woman with several bandages on her face, arms, and legs.

"Oh, hey, it's you, how are you doing?" Daichi asked.

"Pretty good, how about you?" she asked, her voice sweet as sugar.

"Oh, you know, waking up in weird places, getting stabbed in alleyways, the usual," he said casually.

"I am so sorry about that," she said as she squeezed her gown in her balled-up fists.

Daichi pulled her hands away from her clothing and sandwiched them between his soft paws. "Hey, this is not your fault, those guys are at fault. The best thing you can do is move on from this incident. It won't be easy, but as long as you have people who care about you, you'll survive. One day at a time."

He was caught off guard when she hugged him. He could feel her tears soaking his fur. Daichi wrapped his arms around the woman's waist. As they hugged each other, the woman whispered in his ear, "Thank you, hero." His ears pricked up at the word "hero". They eventually separated after hugging for what felt like forever. She looked back at him with a warm smile as she went back to her room.

* * *

As night came to put everyone in a peaceful slumber, Daichi laid in his bed thinking about what everyone had been telling him for the past couple of days, like the woman. _Hero; she thinks I'm a hero. I mean I did save her from a few freaks, but anyone could do that, right? But if I hadn't been there, she wouldn't have made it. It's not like any other pro heroes were there to save the day. _He thought back to what that cop said. _Well, it did feel right when I bashed that guy in the head with a 2x4. _Then he thought back to what Hitoshi told him yesterday. _It's not like it's super complicated to change classes. _He started pacing in a circle. _I could actually save people instead of just mindlessly watching like everyone else. Every day would bring some new excitement. I could actually make a difference in people's lives, and maybe, even my own._

"Oh, what the hell, why not? I'll do it!" Daichi said. He opened up the window and started yelling at the top of his lungs, "Do you hear me world? I am going to become a hero! And someday you will all know the name of Daichi Jinneko because I am-"

"Hey, shut up, some of us are trying to sleep here!" an elderly man yelled out from the window below Daichi.

"Sorry." He closed the window and got back into bed. But before he fell asleep, he whispered to himself, "Because I am joining the next generation of heroes."


	3. Chapter 3

The day finally came for Daichi to leave the hospital. The knife wounds that were gushing blood days ago had now become pink lines that looked like a badly drawn capital 'A'. During his recovery, Daichi tried to think of the perfect way to tell his parents about his new conviction. After talking it over with the woman, whose name was Yua, they both agreed that being straightforward was the best strategy. But now that it was happening, he was finding it hard to say anything right now. It was like someone locked up his mouth and threw away the key. He was digging his claws into his thighs as they walked through the building.

Just when they were about to leave, he decided to blurt it out, "Mom, Dad, I want to join the hero course at U.A."

Katsuo looked confused and Haruko looked a bit horrified.

"What, why?" Haruko asked.

"When I saved Yua, I felt amazing. A rush of emotions and adrenaline was coursing through my veins. I want to feel that way again, and I want to help people like her. Please, at least let me try?"

Both of his parents were silent for a minute before Katsuo finally broke the silence, saying, "I don't see why not?"

"What, are you crazy?!" Haruko asked, exasperated.

"Haruko, if our son wants to try out for the hero course, then why shouldn't we give him a chance?"

"Because look at him, he got stabbed repeatedly. Do you really want our son to come back home bloody and disfigured?"

"I'm sure the teachers would protect him," as Kstauo defended his son, he placed his hand on Daichi's shoulder. "Besides, if our son can beat up three rapists and walk away with only a stab wound, I think he can survive a few villain attacks."

Daichi looked up at his father, blushing a little.

Haruko sighed. "Well, if your father is okay with it, then I guess I am, too."

Daichi couldn't help but smile at how easy that was compared to what he was expecting. He could feel his tail wagging like a happy dog's.

Daichi left the hospital excited for the next day.

* * *

The next day, Daichi walked into Class 1-C with a new feeling of existence. Everyone got up off their desks, except for Hitoshi Shinso, to praise Daichi for his actions days ago. He walked past them to Hitoshi.

"Oh, hey, Jinneko, how are you feeling?"

He placed his furry paw on the desk, and looking at him right in the eyes, he said, "I'm in, I wanna join the hero course with you. How do we do it?"

Hitoshi gave him his signature creepy grin.

And with that, Daichi's journey to becoming a hero began.

At lunch, they started discussing their plan of action.

"Okay, you need to work on improving yourself, both physically and mentally."

"If you're talking about my grades, I'm already pretty good."

"You need to be more than good, you need to be great," Shinso instructed him. "Start your own study and workout routine and stick to it."

"Well there is one plan I've always wanted to do, but I've never had a good reason to try it," Daichi said.

"Well, now you do."

While everyone continued to eat, Daichi pulled out his notebook and started writing. Some papers had random facts written on them, others had 'true' or 'false'. By the end of the school day, half of his notebook was inscribed.

On his way home, Daichi went to the store to buy some weights. He started lifting them while he was walking home, gaining some questionable glances from passerby's. When night came, he put his true plan into action.

Daichi taped the papers to different roofs. With every question, he could jump left or right depending on which answer he believed was correct.

Every day ended up being the same, but for a good reason. After he got home, he would lift weights, study, eat dinner, then leap off buildings until the sun rose. As each day passed, Daichi was getting more answers correct. He even tested his limit by jumping from longer distances. Sometimes, he came back home with broken claws and scraped palms. His fur would be drenched in sweat, his throat would be dry, and it felt like a belt was wrapped around his chest. Some nights, he thought about quitting and going back to his regular life, but once he thought about Yua and his father, his enthusiasm was rejuvenated.

* * *

After a couple of weeks of training and studying and preparing, he was ready for the test. Daichi sat in a room with a single desk in the middle and the principal and another teacher at a desk. Well, principal Nezu was at the desk, the teacher was on the floor in a sleeping bag. The teacher just stared off into space with bandages completely covering his face.

"Uh, Principal Nezu, is he okay?"

"Oh, don't worry about Aizawa, he's just tired."

"No, I mean because he's more wrapped up than a mummy in a burn victim ward."

"Oh, that? That's just from the USJ Incident. Try not to stare"

As they talked, Aizawa dragged himself out of his sleeping bag then walked over to the desk. Daichi could feel his bloodshot eyes boring into him, but he continued to keep calm. He placed the test and bubble sheet in front of Daichi.

"You have one hour. Good luck," Aizawa said, his voice muffled by the bandages.

As soon as Nezu touched the button on his phone to start the timer, Daichi grabbed his pencil and started filling in bubbles. Memories of all those exercises on those roofs were still fresh in his mind as he flipped through the pages. Daichi's tail flicked back and forth as all his attention was on the test. As he filled in the last bubble, the timer went off.

"Time is up," Nezu said.

Daichi placed the pencil down and leaned back in the desk.

"You know, you also have to prove yourself physically, right?" Aizawa said as he picked up the test paper.

"Of course, I was hoping I could talk to one of the teachers and maybe have special training to prove I'm strong enough."

"Actually, I think I know another way to prove yourself." Nezu placed a flyer on the table that said 'Sports Festival'. "There will be lots of pro heroes at the event, it would give you a good chance to advertise yourself. And if you get a good enough score, you can be transferred to the hero course."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the hallway, a boy with emerald green eyes was muttering random nonsense. As this boy was walking down the hallway, completely engrossed in his thoughts, a door opened right in front of him, slamming into his face. Daichi walked through that door staring at the flyer.

"Have a good day," Nezu told Daichi.

"You too, sir."

The green boy walked around the door, a pink outline of the door plastered on his face. Nezu looked up to see him rubbing his raw face.

"Well hello, Midoriya, how is your day going?" Nezu asked in his usual cheerful tone.

"It's going fine, thank you for asking, sir," Midoriya said, still rubbing his sore spot. "But, um, who is that?" Midoriya pointed to Daichi.

"Daichi Jinneko, and with luck, your new classmate."


	4. Chapter 4

Daichi ran; he ran out into the sunlight with the rest of his classmates. The racing section of the Sports Festival had begun, and everyone was practically trampling each other to get to the finish line, some literally. Daichi was only using his legs, wary not to use too much of his energy at the start of the race. He was running on the gate, avoiding the iced-over ground. When Todoroki took down the robot obstacles, Daichi simply clambered over the metal bodies.

Getting over The Fall was easy too, all those midnights spent running on rooftops were paying off as he jumped from each rock platform with ease. The minefield was when things started getting tricky. He could tell where each mine was buried, but to avoid them, he had to slow down. He could see the arena in the distance. _Just a little farther, I can already taste the sweetness of victory. Kind of tastes like honey and ice cream._

He was pulled out of his daydreaming when he heard a loud bang. Turning around, he saw someone flying through the air on a piece of scrap metal.

"What the hell?!" Daichi yelled out.

He was so distracted that he did not notice the bombs right under him.

"Oh, crap." He was sent soaring in a cloud of sparkling pink smoke. Daichi screamed as he tried to prevent himself from landing on his face. As if on instinct, Daichi placed his hands in front of his body so they could take the brunt of the fall. He closed his eyes, expecting to feel immense pain. But instead, he landed on something soft and warm. He looked down at his paws, not only did he land perfectly on all four limbs, he landed on another student. This student had spiky red hair. "Sorry, are you okay?" The redhead pulled his head out of the dirt, spitting out globs of soil. "Hey, wait a minute, you're that guy who crawled out of that robot," Daichi said after getting a better look at his face.

"And you're the guy who's still standing on me. Get off of me!"

Being made aware of his mistake, he quickly got off. The redhead hoisted himself back up, scraping off the dirt from his P.E. uniform. After he was positive that he was okay, Daichi quickly got back to running.

"Well, see you at the finish line!" Daichi called from the distance.

But as he ran, he noticed the redhead catching up. Daichi started running on all fours to gain speed. But despite the extra speed, the opposing classmate was able to keep up. The two of them ran faster and faster. Neither of them slowed down as they entered the stadium. As they went through the hallway, Daichi's shoulders kept banging into the redhead's knees. He could see the light at the end of the tunnel. As the light grew brighter, Daichi made one last effort to get ahead of the redhead. He jumped into the light like a tiger through a hoop of fire. Daichi squinted his eyes as the light engulfed his vision. When the light receded, he looked down. His paw and the redhead's foot planted on the ground simultaneously.

"What's this? We have a tie, folks," Present Mic screamed enthusiastically.

The two guys looked at each other, heaving and sweating. The two of them didn't have long to stare before they heard footsteps right behind. They were able to get out of the way of a stampede of students running into the stadium. As students continued to come and Present Mic continued to scream out nonsense, Daichi explored the stadium. The synthetic grass felt weird against his padded palms. There were thousands of people packed into the stands cheering and screaming. Daichi could see his parents on the other side of the stadium. He was about to walk over to them when one the teachers, Midnight, called everyone over.

The race eventually ended with the first 43 students being allowed to continue to the next round, the cavalry battle. Daichi decided to join Shinso's team along with two 1-A students and one 1-B student.

"So, you're from Class 1-A, huh?" He asked the long-tailed student. "What's your name?"

"Mashirao Ojiro, yours?" Ojiro held his hand out to shake.

"Daichi Jinneko, nice to meet you," Daichi shook his held out hand.

"Jinneko quit fraternizing with the other classes," Hitoshi scolded Daichi.

"He may end up becoming my classmate, Shinso, I need to start establishing relationships now."

"Whatever, are you ready," Hitoshi asked.

"Do it."

For the next ten minutes, everything became foggy.

When he finally returned to total consciousness, the audience had erupted.

"In third place, it's Tetsute-Huh? What, it's Team Shinso?! When did you come from behind?!" Present Mic bellowed through the loudspeakers.

"Thanks for your hard work," Hitoshi said as he walked away with a smug grin on his face.

While the rest of the team look confused, Hitoshi and Daichi shared a knowing look.

Just when he was about to chase after him, he remembered what he was planning to do earlier. Daichi ran over to the stands where his mom and dad were sitting at the bottom row. He jumped up the barrier with his back legs scraping against the wall and his hands digging into the other side to keep him anchored.

"I am so proud of you, sweetie," Haruko said, cupping her hand in his face.

"You're doing great, son, keep it up," Katsuo said, flashing him a toothy grin.

Midnight interrupted their conversation as she discussed the next round. "Now to end this tie, we will be having our two eleventh place competitors fight for their position." Midnight pointed at the big screen to reveal that the redhead and Daichi would battle each other. Daichi looked up at the screen.

_Kirishima, huh? I'm gonna turn that guy into mincemeat, _Daichi thought.

Daichi spent the next half-hour scratching up a tree to sharpen his claws. When it was time for the battle tournament to begin, Daichi ran up to Hitoshi.

"Shinso, wait up!" Daichi yelled.

But Hitoshi didn't stop, he kept walking to the battlefield.

"Audience! The finals that you've all been waiting for are finally starting!" Present Mic announced.

As Hitoshi walked away, Daichi said, "Good luck."

"I don't need luck," Hitoshi said, not looking back.

"Start."

* * *

The battle lasted five minutes. Hitoshi laid on the ground right outside of the battlefield. Daichi swore he felt his jaw hit the floor.

As Hitoshi walked back into the hallway, Daichi ran over to him. The two stopped in front of the other. They just stared at each other, not sure what to say.

"You wanna stroke my fur, will that make you feel better?" Daichi said, finally breaking the silence.

Shinso just stared at him blankly. Daichi's ears drooped a little. But then Hitoshi placed his hand on Daichi's head. He just remained there, allowing his classmate to stroke his fur. Daichi swore he saw a genuine smile on Histoshi's face.

"Now let's get on with the next match," Present Mic said.

At the sound of the announcer's voice, Hitoshi and Daichi walked off to their destinations.

But as he walked out the tournament, Shinso called out to him. He turned around and saw Shinso giving him a thumbs up. "Good luck."

Daichi smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, too. "I'll give him a punch in the face just for you."

And with that, Daichi walked over to a battle that would determine his future.


	5. Chapter 5

"Match number two! This boy has already made an amazing impression. From the hero course, it's Eijiro Kirishima!" Kirishima walked out into the open.

"Versus," as Present Mic talked Daichi walked over to the battlefield. "Oh, I think you're gonna like this one, Aizawa. His fur looks soft as cotton, but he has the eyes of a predator. From general studies, Daichi Jinneko."

Daichi could barely contain his excitement. His breaths came out ragged and his legs were shaking.

The boys' locked eyes with each other, both of them could see a fire burning in them.

Jinneko kept flexing his claws.

"Ready?"

Kirishima hardened his skin.

"Start!"

Daichi ran straight for Kirishima. Kirishima stood his ground, his arms in front of his face. Jinneko ran his claws over his opponent's arms, but they didn't leave a dent. It felt like he scraped his claws against a brick wall.

"It's gonna take more than some fancy nails to break through this armor," Kirishima boasted.

Daichi started pushing his opponent. But Kirishima dug his sols into the ground. When Kirishima stopped moving, he started shoving Jinneko. He tried his best to resist, but he couldn't stop. He looked back. He was getting close to the line. Daichi slinked right between Kirishima's legs. He continued to slash at his enemy's defenses, but he got no results.

He noticed that one of his claws had broken in half. And it was getting harder to breathe with each passing moment. _I've got to end this battle now before I pass out._

Then he got an idea.

Daichi ran over to Kirishima again, but this time, he bit down on Kirishima's leg. This felt so uncomfortable against his teeth and the fabric of his uniform tasted like salty sweat, but he endured it.

"I already told you, you can't break through this armo-" He was cut off by the sound of something cracking. The taste of sweat had now mixed with blood. Daichi had broken through his armor!

Kirishima screamed. "Get off, get off, get off! Let go of me, you idiot!" Kirishima tried to shake him off, but he kept his grip firm. He eventually let go, sending him skidding across the field to a corner. Kirishima clung to his leg, blood dripping out of two puncture holes.

"Wow! Now that's some pearly whites! Wonder how much the dental bills are?" Present Mic remarked.

"What the hell, why would you bite me?" Kirishima asked exasperated.

"Well, at least I don't taste like a year old mayonnaise. It's called a shower, man, you might wanna try it," Daichi said.

The audience exploded into laughter.

"Oooohhh, that's gonna leave a mark," Present Mic laughed along with the spectators.

Kirishima's face grew as red as his hair. He ran over to Daichi, fists clenched and hardened. Daichi lowered himself to the ground. Kirishima slammed his fists over Daichi's spot. The area broke apart into gigantic pieces. When the dust settled, Daichi was no longer on the ground. He had jumped into the air, right above Kirishima. Kirishima tried to move, but immense pain in his leg kept him from moving.

Yes! Now's my chance! Daichi unsheathed his claws. One fell swoop and he's down! The momentum grew stronger as he let gravity take over.

His eyes trailed back to the bleachers in the hopes of seeing his family cheering for him on, but all he saw was a large boulder heading in the direction of the crowd. Daichi suddenly twisted his whole body mid-air. When he finally got near Kirishima, instead of attacking him, he used him as a springboard to reach the cracked pieces of the battlefield. He raced up the largest piece, using his claws to get better traction. When he reached the top, his leg muscles tensed up before he launched himself into the air. He was so high up, he felt like he was flying, but he kept his focus on the large rock.

"What the-Daichi has just jumped after the rock like a dog after a stick!"

The spectators noticed the danger as well and started fleeing, but the confined spaces did not make it easy. As soon as he felt he was close enough, he pulled out his claws as far as they could go. Raising his hands in the air, he raked them over the boulder. A large x mark sliced right through the rock. The boulder erupted into a cloud of dust with Daichi flying out of it, dust trailing from his mouth and hands. What was once a giant boulder was now a bunch of tiny rocks raining down on the audience.

Daichi landed on the edge of the seats, claws dug into the material to keep him from falling. His fingertips were caked in blood and his claws were chipped and broken. Some had been torn off completely, leaving a gaping hole spewing blood.

"Amazing! Daichi just cut through a rock like butter!"

Just when he thought he could relax, he saw another smaller boulder heading towards a small boy frozen in place. Daichi raced across the edge so fast, his muscles screamed at him to stop.

_I'm not going to be able to cut that rock in half in time. I'll have to block it_, Jinneko thought as he continued to run. Once he was in front of the child, he braced for impact. The rock struck him right between the eyes. Immense pain erupted in that spot and he felt blood leak out of the wound. He turned back around to the young boy, blood still trailing down his face, and asked, "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded, still visibly shaken by the whole event. Once he confirmed his safety, Daichi finally relaxed. He could hear something being yelled out through the speakers, but the ringing in his ears canceled it out. His claws receded into his soft hands as he climbed over the bleachers then sat down in an empty seat. His ears were ringing, his head was aching, and his muscles were screaming. He closed his eyes, and everything went black.

* * *

When he woke up, he was no longer outside. He was in a hospital bed. Each of his fingers was wrapped in bandages. Haruko was the first to hug him.

"Oh, sweetie, you're awake. Thank God. How do you feel?" Haruko asked.

"My head hurts," Daichi rubbed at the spot where the rock hit him only to find that the wound was gone.

"I would think so, you got hit square in the face with a rock. You were lucky this school has an amazing nurse," Katsuo said.

Daichi was about to lay down when he remembered what he was doing earlier. "Did I win?" he asked as he sat up.

His parents looked at each other then back at him, crestfallen. "No, honey, as soon as you jumped off the platform you were out of bounds. You got disqualified. You lost."

You. Lost. Those two words echoed in Daichi's mind. He hugged his legs and rested his head between his knees. All of his training and studying resulted in failure.

His father attempted to give him some reassurance. "It's okay, there's always next year. And I'm sure there will be other chances to prove you're worthy."

His mother tried as well. "Yeah, besides, you don't need to be a hero to get an adrenaline rush-"

"It was more than that!" Daichi interrupted Haruko, catching her off guard. "It was so much more than that. When that woman thanked me for saving her, and when that police officer said I should become a hero, I felt something I haven't felt in a long time; closure. Closure for finally figuring out my future. With all my other job ideas, I worried about how much money I would make or how important I would be to people. But when I think about being a hero, I don't care about fame or fortune, I just care about helping people."

The doors suddenly opened to reveal Aizawa in the halls. He walked over to Daichi with a blank expression.

"I'm sorry, sir, I failed."

However, the word he was not expecting was "Congratulations." He looked up to see Aizawa with the same expression. "You are now a student of Class 1-A."

Daichi couldn't believe his ears. "But I failed the Sports Festival."

"Yes, you did. But you didn't fail the written exam." Aizawa tossed a paper onto Daichi's lap. It was the exam Jinneko had taken several days ago, with a score of one hundred written on it. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him too. "Also, after you saved those spectators, several pro heroes came and offered recommendations for you." Aizawa threw down even more papers, this time they had the signatures of heroes and praises for Daichi.

"I want you in my class tomorrow," Aizawa said as he exited the infirmary.

As soon as he left, Daichi was bombarded by hugs and kisses.

When the Sports Festival ended, Daichi and his parents left to get some dinner.

_This is it, Daichi, a new chapter, a new beginning, a chance at a better life._


End file.
